Reviewed by
Evelyn
Calling all Japanese and ramen lovers! ZenPop gathers together the best products from Japan and sends you an exciting box full of goodies every single month, all the way from Osaka! They offer free shipping to the UK and there are no customs charges to pay, so why not try ZenPop today?
They currently have a range of different subscription boxes available such as:-
- Ramen Pack – 7 bowls of authentic and delicious Japanese noodles
- Stationery Pack – 10 cute and high-quality items, including 3 writing tools
- Sweets Pack – 15 kinds of weird and wonderful Japanese sweets and snacks
- Ramen & Sweets Mix Pack – 2 or more bowls of ramen and at least 6 sweets and snacks
ZenPop‘s Ramen Packs are very popular with their subscribers, so they have kindly sent me another one to review. The following is October’s box which is themed flavours of Southern Japan. All of the boxes come with a leaflet in English which tells what each product is and how to prepare it. Let’s get stuck in!
CupStar Tonkotsu Ramen
The first pot that I picked up is from CupStar and this one is supposed to make you feel nostalgic when you eat it, so it’s like a bowl of comfort food. Tonkotsu is perhaps the most popular type of ramen in Japan and is very famous in Fukuoka. This one featured Onions, Garlic and Ginger as the main flavours, which are all submerged in a rich pork bone broth with a range of toppings included.
Maru-uma Tonkotsu Ramen
This next one is quite similar to the first as it’s another Tonkotsu but is has a more unami flavour of pork bone and vegetable extracts that melt in your mouth. The accompanying soup is light and refreshing and really quite unusual, whilst the smooth texture of the noodles makes it a very satisfying meal. Toppings include wood ear mushroom, sesame seeds, scallions and red pickled ginger.
Hyoubanya Koku Tonkotsu
Moving onto one of the larger pots in the box, this ramen is lightly flavoured with thinner noodles for a quick and easy midnight snack when you feel peckish! I really enjoyed this one and you can even add additional toppings such as a boiled egg to make it more of a meal if you wanted to.
Men Dining Chanpon
Next up, is a Chanpon pot. Chanpon is a noodle dish that is originally a Chinese inspired cuisine of Nagasaki prefecture in Kyushu but it has since spread in popularity throughout all of Japan. Here, the smooth noodles are presented in a rich and thick soup with spicy hints of white and black pepper which I loved! The toppings are cabbage, kamaboko and wood ear mushroom.
Seimen Yasai Chanpon
This chanpon is equally as delicious. These soft, yet chewy noodles have a freshly made quality to them which is quite surprising for an instant ramen pot, and the rich and thick soup is just so comforting and warming. There’s a really good blend of flavours here, so it’s definitely one to try out.
Sugomen Negi Miso Ramen
A very special ramen! This is the most popular ramen from Sugomen which features their specially patented non-fried noodles. It comes with quite precise instructions that you need to follow when preparing it, but it’s certainly worth the effort as the end result is so tasty! The grated garlic topping/seasoning really finishes it off so well too.
Okonomiyaki Sauce Yakisoba
The last product is loved by most in Osaka – it’s Okonomiyaki, a specially made sauce that makes this Yakisoba so unique and different. It’s much sweeter than any other Yakisoba that I have tried with a fruitness running through it. There are also vegetable extracts in the sauce which makes the flavour more complex and the dried bonito adds some fantastic unami – yum!
By Mary 
